Thursday, July 23, 2009

St. Pyotr Mamonov

The information I have is close to nil, but somehow Pyotr Mamonov, who I learned about and listened to (impressed) in the mid-eighties through a friend living in Russia at the time, developed from a cross between a darker and more threatening soviet David Byrne in the 1980s, through his band Zvuki Mu (an amazing band that immediately draws attention to itself in a way that few groups did at the time)...

Zvuki Mu - na telekanale Kultura (1986?) - and more:


Zvuki Mu - "Grubiy Zakat"


... into an incarnation of some demonic figure drawn from the depths of the darkest russian literature performing his heart out in a way that doesn't really need translation.

Pyotr Mamonov - kak ya hotel


Pyotr Mamonov - Blues


In my unheroic quest to rediscover all sorts of artists I only had a fragmentary memory of, through the magic of online video, I learned that this phenomenal musician and actor has left the worldly spotlight and is leading a monastic life in some remote Russian village...
"[He] converted to Orthodox Christianity, left the capital, and settled in a village. He returned to play the lead role in Pavel Lungin's religious film "The Island" (Russian "Остров"), which closed the 2006 Venice Film Festival. His acting in the film was praised by Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow, and won him a Best Actor Nika Award."

This, to me, seems somehow appropriate. It concludes a path: a visible path through which an artist sculpts his own life into a meaningful (if variable) exhibit.

I'll be digging deeper....


Pyotr Mamonov - Tiritomba

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Police Stories

1980. The Dicks - Hate the Police. A classic of American early punk.



And circa ~1985. Black Flag: Police Story

Friday, July 17, 2009

Great Cave

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - I'm on fire



A frigging masterpiece of a video, extra-long. Probably one needs some sort of tonic to last the whole piece in one go. After ~15 minutes, what follows is a sort of "...the making of" part. The whole band seems to have enjoyed this one...

Barry-o

Black Amour - Barry Adamson



In which Barry Adamson, possibly mistakes himself for that other Barry, and produces a perfect erotic reinvention of the genre. For comparison purposes here's some real Barry White:



To top it off here's a love song by Cave & Adamson: The Sweetest Embrace...

Sonic Youth - Nevermind



Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster



This second video is from their new album, The Eternal, which proves beyond all reasonable doubt that my age cohort can still rock.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Κάιρο

Νίκος Γούναρης - Κάιρο:



Αν και με πλήττει συνήθως υπαρξιακά αυτό το ελαφρό τραγούδι των δεκαετιών της γιαγιάς μου, το "Κάιρο" του Γούναρη είναι υπνωτικής μεγαλοπρέπειας κομμάτι που ξεπερνά την φόρμα του και παρακαλά να γίνει ροκαμπίλι/σαϊκομπίλι διασκευή τύπου Μισιρλού. Κάποιος πρέπει να το αναλάβει...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

...H περιπέτεια φέρνει μονάχα δυστυχία...

"Για λίγες σταγόνες ευτυχίας":


Όπου ο Γιώργος Αιγύπτιος εισάγει τα μεξικάνικα πνευστά στο λαϊκό τραγούδι - που μοιάζει στην εισαγωγή να φλερτάρουν με τα χάλκινα της Φλωρίνης στο δρόμο για την οριεντάλ ρούμπα. Πρόκειται για τεράστιο κομμάτι.

... Που θα ήταν ακόμα πιο τεράστιο αν το συνόδευε με την ειδική του τρομπέτα ο κάτωθι μη-Γιώργος Αιγύπτιος:

Led Zeppelin + Reggae + Elvis = Dread Zeppelin

Dread Zeppelin is an American band best known for covering the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style sung by an Elvis Presley impersonator named Tortelvis (Greg Tortell), though their act now encompasses many other songs and other styles of music

If you're not moved by the wikipedic description of Dread Zeppelin you're in the wrong blog. Before the days of youtube instant musical curiosity satisafaction, their fame preceded then and I was looking all over for a musical glimpse of this band. Now it's easy:
Immigrant Song:


Stairway to Heaven:


Speaking of wildly cool Elvis impersonators, check out Metal Elvis doing some sort of G&R vs Elvis, in All Shook Up:

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Refused and their Aftermath

Refused - New Noise


How can we expect anyone to listen
If we're using the same old voice?
We need new noise
New art for the real people

(the song was also covered to my amusement by Anthrax, no less)
From the overoptimistically titled album "The Shape of Punk to Come", their last in 1998, a hardcore punk classic from IMHO one of the few living punk bands in the 90s (which unfortunately I discovered something like 8 years later) AND one of the few meaningfully political bands of any genre at the time. The Refused (a Swedish band) dissolved and their lead singer Dennis Lyxzén inspired with Lars Strömberg by Phil Ochs' comment that the perfect rock band would be a "combination of Elvis and Che Guevara", went on to create the International Noise Conspiracy which is agit-prop for the dancefloor, on a level not seen the days of the Gang of Four.

And I do mean agit-prop (or, errr, agit-pop?). Take for example "Communist Moon"



Or "Smash it Up":



or, even better, "Capitalism Stole My Virginity":

The Gallows: Abandon Ship

Archetypal hardcore from The Gallows, the world's loudest band...

Friday, July 10, 2009

Night of the Vampire - Roky Erickson

Acoustic:



Original:



Lyrics

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist

Messer fur Frau Muller - the Best Girl in UssR

Forefather to Messer Chups: Messer fur frau Miller

Stigmata

Ministry: The original



Far-out rockabilly cover from the unbelievable Messer Chups, a Russian band from St. Petersburg:



Lyrics...